When You're Gone
by talinsquall
Summary: Leon has run away for a year. A lot has happened. Sephiroth/Squall/Zack, Cloud/Laguna, Past Squall/Rinoa, AU, OOC, Non-Canon, Rinoa from FF8 became Ultimecia, Threesome, Homosexuality, Mpreg, Mentions of Potential/Past Mpreg due to Mako, Laguna Loire from FF8. Vincent Valentine from FF7.
A/N: A chunk of story that's been floating around my head for years. Prequel? Sequel? Who knows?

Fandom: Final Fantasy 7/Kingdom Hearts

Summary: Leon has run away for a year. A lot has happened

Pairings: Sephiroth/Squall/Zack, Cloud/Laguna, Past Squall/Rinoa

Warnings: AU, OOC, Non-Canon, Rinoa from FF8 became Ultimecia, Threesome, Homosexuality, Mpreg, Mentions of Potential/Past Mpreg due to Mako, Laguna Loire from FF8. Vincent Valentine from FF7. (He is Sephiroth's Father and Riku's Grandfather in my head canon.)

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this fan fiction. In certain cases incidents, characters and timelines have been changed for dramatic purposes. Certain characters may be composites, or entirely fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

XXX

 **When You're Gone**

Edging into the jail cell, Cloud gently placed the food tray onto the table next to the sleeping bunk. "It's okay to eat. Aerith cooked it."

Laying on his side, Leon's back remained stiff and unyielding. He continued to hide his face from the world. "I want to talk to my father. I'm not eating a thing until I hear Laguna's voice."

Cloud held his phone up in an unsteady hand. "Only if you swear you won't try to lure him away from us."

"From you, you mean! Do you even allow him outside? You paranoid freak!"

Cloud flinched at the true accusation, but nodded his head. "I've worked through it with Aerith. Sora needs sunlight to grow, so Zack helped me build a playing area between our houses. I can see them when I patrol. It helps."

Leon flipped around to stab Cloud with a stormy glare. "Sora? Who the hell is Sora?"

Cloud's gaze dropped to the floor. "My newborn son and your little brother. Laguna wanted to tell you during your last visit, but he became scared when Rinoa showed up."

"She wouldn't have hurt him!"

Cloud straightened up with his eyes tripling their glow. "She almost did a damn fine job two months ago! Laguna barely survived the attack, but she wasn't going after him to begin with, she was going for Sora."

Leon sunk back against the bed in disbelief. "Two months ago? Rinoa told me she was traveling to a new world for more ingredients for a spell. When she returned, we had to leave in a rush. Her excuses never made sense to me."

A cleared throat diverted Cloud and Leon's attention. "That's because her sense never made sense. Quit calling her Rinoa, Squall. Her name is Ultimeeecia now."

Leon sat up and made grabby hands towards a beaming Laguna.

Laguna hurried over to his tearing-up boy. After laying a cooing Sora in Leon's arms, he received the heartfelt hug with delight. "I have to say, ditching me right after I found you again did not do this old man's heart any good."

Leon pointedly looked down at Sora, then up to his youthful father. "Old man? What old man gives birth to a future Keyblader in his fifties?"

Laguna shrugged. "I'm special. You can tell too? His Light was so bright, even inside me. I should've known she couldn't let us be."

Leon rocked Sora to-and-fro. "A simple road trip, she said. Just like old times. She never appears to me as Ultimecia. Only as Rinoa. Makes it easier for the lie to stick, I guess."

"A lie which needs to end."

Laguna looked up to view a looming Sephiroth in the entranceway. "Wow, Squall. Does your husband get bigger the more pissed off he becomes? 'Cause it's workin'!"

Squall continued to rock his little brother. "You didn't sign the divorce papers yet. I sent them to you last week. Don't forget to have Zack sign as well. He's always more forgetful in the Springtime."

Sephiroth strode forward to envelop Leon's form in his Darkness-filled shadow. Unlike others, Leon always found it safe and comforting. "Zack is bedridden with our second child. High-risk, but our Puppy's determination is set. Say hello to Riku."

Leon half stood-up to deliver a sweet kiss and snuffle to the silver-haired babe situated in the carrier strapped to Sephiroth's chest. "Hello, Riku. I missed you, Baby, so much. You have a new playmate, though. Protect him and he'll love you forever."

A silent Riku answered by reaching down and grasping Sora's fingers. His gaze steady and sure.

"Father-in-law, if I may, can you take care of Riku, while I converse with Squall? If our children shall be future playmates, we should begin the process as soon as possible."

Laguna gave a firm hug to Leon, while Sephiroth transferred Riku to Cloud. "See us before you go. Promise me, Squall."

Squall gripped his Mother's ring in his hand, so Laguna could see the truth of his words. "I promise, Dad. No matter what."

"There won't be any need. Squall's not going anywhere."

Spying Squall's infamous glare-frown come to fore, Laguna held Sora to his chest and backed away. "Far be it for me to get in the way of True Love… or whatever this is."

Squall turned with a growl. "You should talk, Old Man!"

Laguna twirled to the exit with a blush. "We'll be waiting. You still need to pick up the new books Ellone left for you."

Cloud moseyed next to Laguna with a bored expression. "You left the house, unprotected, with my little Light. Whatever shall I do with you?"

Laguna rubbed up against Cloud's muscled bicep with a sweet smile on his lips. "Sora's nap is in a half-hour. Riku will usually fall asleep with him. I'm sure you'll think of something interesting and informative."

XXX

Sephiroth leaned against the table across the way and crossed his arms over his chest. "One year Zack and I have been without our mate and Riku without his second mother. Explain. No lies. While I have turned my back on the Darkness's bidding, it still tells me of all the goings on. Ultimecia has been very busy. Apparently, without your knowledge."

Leon clutched the mattress for support. "I never cheated on you. Rinoa tried her best, at first, but I told her I couldn't while I was still married. I'll have to think of something else when the divorce papers are signed."

Sephiroth pinched between his eyes in exasperation. "Squall, those blasted papers will never be signed because I will never sign them. Zack doesn't even know about them or Ultimecia's return. He still believes you're away finding yourself after you lost the baby. It was hard to make the story stick when Laguna began crying in public for his baby boy and Cloud kept trying to comfort him."

Leon tilted his head in disbelief. "Comfort him? Yuffie sent me the video. I had no idea Tifa could hit that hard and it barely fazed Strife. Aerith finally had to do Knights of the Round to bring him to the ground. How crazy is that guy?"

Sephiroth sighed. "Laguna hasn't taken a restraining order on him yet. He's a solid fighter and he shows up on time for his patrols. Besides, we can't lock him up. It would make Zack cry. He's supposed to stay away from stress in his condition."

Leon shook his head in dismay. "Zack shouldn't have done it. It's too dangerous for everyone if he dies. You almost tore a World apart last time."

Sephiroth's weary gaze rose up to meet Leon's. "Do not blame Zack. I'm sure he tried everything before this last alternative. I went half mad when our baby died and you left in the night. When Ultimecia returned to kill Sora, it took the combined efforts of Zack and the counsel of my father, Vincent, to stop me from hunting her down. You understand now why she needed to make a hasty exit."

Leon stood up to enclose Sephiroth in a tight embrace. "Here's the truth. Promise not to explode until I'm done."

Sephiroth drew a hand through Leon's long hair. "At least, look at me, Squall. I've missed your eyes."

Leon scrunched up even further against his husband. "No. I won't be able to talk and I need to set this straight."

Sephiroth maneuvered the pair back to sitting on the bed. "I'm listening. I promise not to take any action until you're finished explaining."

Leon drew back and played with the straps criss-crossing Sephiroth's chest. "When I lost our baby, I lost a part of my soul. Five months. Just a little while longer and she would have been here. With the heavy scarring, Merlin and Aerith both stated my next pregnancy would be high risk, but doable. I wanted better than that. I wanted to be like before. Zack had the same problems, but Riku was born healthy. He had his baby. I wanted mine."

"Rinoa told me should could make it possible, if I left you and Zack and went with her. We traveled from World to World. Aimlessly, it seems. She would give me draught after draught. Never an explanation why I hadn't healed enough. I swear I had no idea what was going on here. If I had an inkling she had any intentions of attacking my father, and little brother, I wouldn't have stayed with her. I would have stopped her for good."

"I'm holding you to that, Baby Lion."

Leon and Sephiroth circled around to view their beloved mate, Zack, cradled in a blank-faced Vincent's arms.

Vincent calmly placed Zack down next Leon, kissed Sephiroth's forehead, and flitted away with a small wave of the gauntlet.

After Leon bent over to kiss Zack's tummy, he swerved up to deliver a harsh kiss to a smiling mouth. "You're supposed to be in bed. High risk, remember?"

Zack delivered a hard smack to the mattress below. "So I am. Question is, why ain't you there with me? Two mates not enough for ya? Gotta squire around a baby-hating crazy lady?"

Leon petted Zack's belly without raising his head. "Rinoa doesn't hate babies. It's just…. Sorceresses from our World can't have children. Ellone was always okay with it. She's planning on adopting when she's ready. I hoped Rinoa would feel the same way eventually."

Zack clutched Leon's hands and held them to his chest. "She won't, Squall. Any baby of yours, that's not hers, has a death sentence on them. Crazy Bitch told me herself last night, while Seph was busy cornering you. We can thank Granddaddy Vincent in shooting her back into the Darkness."

Leon's awe-filled gaze strengthened Zack's determination. "My baby? This is my baby?"

Zack tilted in for a soft kiss and wink towards a smiling Sephiroth. "Serves me right for letting my guard down in the night and letting a hot stranger on top. We are so doing that again, by the way. I was so sure you were home to stay, but you were gone the next day. Poor Riku. Until we found out about this little one, he had to keep Seph and me going with his baby love. Ain't right, Squall, we need you home."

Leon hid his face in the curve of Zack's neck. "She'll never let go, Zack. I'm the last thing Rinoa remembers loving. I'm all she remembers of love."

Sephiroth wrapped his arms around his mates before he delivered the last blow to Leon's resolve. "There's a reason you don't remember how you lost the baby. It was her, Squall. It was Rinoa. She waited until Cloud and I left for the Coliseum and Zack went on patrol. It was the same for Laguna. She waited until Cloud went off planet to attack. Until she's gone, none of our children are safe."

For Zack, it felt like Leon's body had become stone. "My little girl? That bitch killed my baby girl!"

Leon clutched the homing bracelet. A ready escape to Rinoa. He had endured capture, before, to see his father, unknowing of the new information that had been held from him. He looked to his mates before activating. "Zack, back to bed now! Sephiroth, I'll return by tonight. I promise."

After delivering soul-searing kisses to his partners, Squall Leonhart disappeared to complete an oath he had sworn to uphold years ago to a teenager named Rinoa. If she was to die, it would be by him.

XXX

Sephiroth gently laid Zack down into his pile of pillows. "Comfy?'

Zack moved slightly to position a slumbering baby Riku next to him. "Now I am. Silly lady trying to threaten my family. Serves her right. However, ya know she had nothing to do with Squall losing our baby girl. It was a blood clot. Ultimecia might be crazy, but she healed up our Baby Lion really good. Aerith said he should be right as rain if we try again."

Sephiroth peered out the window, surveying his domain with a wary eye. Squall always finished what he started, but you never knew. "Squall needed the necessary push to end this year-long farce. It would not have been the same if either I or Strife ended her life. No one living shall refute our white lie. Things are better ended this way for everyone."


End file.
